The Tree of Life (Arbor Vitae)
Monique Marylin Alves de Almeida
Microscopy image
This image of a mouse cerebellar tissue grown in a Petri dish shows myelin (coloured green), a fatty protective sheath that coats neurons to allow faster neurotransmission and communication among brain cells. Oligodendrocytes are the only cells in the central nervous system capable of forming these myelin sheets. These cells populate the cerebellar white matter and the resulting shape resembles a tree, hence the common name of arbor vitae for the cerebellum. With this image, I wanted to show one of the most fascinating brain regions, which is often affected in neurodegenerative diseases.
